My First Build

[imsoadude]

Hey guys i finally completed my first build and am pretty excited

SPECS:
CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid
Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 Gaming ATX LGA1150
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1600
SSD: Samsung 840 Series 250GB 2.5" SSD
GPU: Club 3D Radeon HD 7950
PSU: Cooler Master 525W ATX12V
Case: BitFenix Merc Alpha (Black) ATX Mid Tower
Network Card: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n PCI-Express x1
OS: Windows 8 Pro 64-Bit

Couple of pics: http://imgur.com/a/lw50E

So far this machine is running perfectly and damn its fast

Right now i have it hooked up in my room to my 46" LCD tv via HDMI @ 1080p. Using a wireless keyboard and mouse so i can lay in bed lol.

What im going to use this build for is Encoding, Watching tv shows and movies, probably a little gaming and overclocking for sure. And so far the temps are really good also the motherboard and cpu seem to stay about 28 to 30 celsius all the time (havent done anything too intense yet or stress tested it or anything)

 

[Imran]

Looks great!
Adding another 4GB of RAM might be good

 

[imsoadude]

Yea, i was aiming at keeping it sorta cheap for now but that will be one of the next upgrades lol

 

[House_maniac]

nice looking good man

 

[McLovin]

Love the build. Did you only get an SSD or another HDD?

 

[imsoadude]

Just the SSD i figured 250GB should be good, plus i have probably 8TB in external storage lol

 

[MrXidus]

Missing an additional 4GB of RAM and a decent 2GB or better dedicated GPU for a proper gaming experience at 1080p. -1

Always great to have a SSD so +1 to that!

No childish overdone blue LED strips in sight another +1 to that!

USB 3.0 supported case, often skipped or overlooked with cheaper cases. +1 to that!

The fastest operating system installed on new build. A further +1

Some cables I can see that could be tucked away and hidden to look cleaner but since this is a closed case with no window, it doesn't matter! +1

Overall is a decent build, Unlocked CPU and a Corsair cooler you should share us your overclock once done.

Thanks.

 

[imsoadude]

Thanks MrXidus, didnt get a GPU because i wanted to keep costs down, but those things are always upgradable and i did my best at tucking those wires. but some were a little short so i kind of rerouted around the
motherboard. Also once i overclock ill make sure i post

Also I'm just trying out encoding and the CPU is a little stressed my CPU Temp seems to top at 55 celsius not sure if thats good or bad?

 

[arsenaloyal]

The only thing i would recommend is to go for Samsung 840 Pro instead of normal 840 series SSD's.

 

[imsoadude]

Maybe next time i need a ssd i will, but i figured for a $80 dollar difference id rather just get the normal 840

 

[Tom172]

Great build, looks good!

 

[imsoadude]

Currently testing an overclock of 4.4GHz with AIDA64 System Stability Test so far been about 17 minutes no problems on full stress temps seem to get about 60-64 average and 75-76 max kind of high.. so i may want to look at a 4.2 overclock if the temps continue when i encode

 

[imsoadude]

While encoding temps seem to be sitting about 60 so thats not bad and idle seems to be about 35-40. could be higher when the room gets hot though

Crashed about a quarter through the encode, so now im trying a few different settings i read about online and put it down to 4.2GHz at the moment.

 

[imsoadude]

Ok, now that ive had the 4.2GHz overclock running for a day stress testing and encoding i think i can say its stable with 35-40 celsius temps on idle and 55-65 (average usually about 58) celsius temps while stressed.

 

[Valentin N]

A solid build for being the first build, even if I would take other parts, to be more specific an other psu such as Cosairs Builder 600W, selection of the the case is good but I would take a fractal design R4, when it comes to ssd I would have taken an 120GB Samsung evo only for the OS. and a 2TB Seagate Barracuda 2TB for all other stuff and as for the motherboard I would have taken the ASRock (read the review) which cheaper and offers better OC possibilies.

Do you have a change to return some things pack?

I will upadate this post

 

[imsoadude]

I don't really store a lot on the computer at the moment so i figured a cheap 250gb ssd would do for now, i wasn't sure how much i was gonna store on it so i didnt want to risk using a 120gb and not have enough space, and i have so much external storage i didn't see the need for a big hard drive. As for the power supply i would have gotten something better as you said but ive had that one laying around for a while so i figured id use it. The motherboards i saw the msi used in a couple of overclocking reviews for haswell and looked at some reviews and thought it looked good so i got it, i didn't know about the asrock otherwise i probably would have gotten that one. I tried to get everything to have a red black kind of theme lol.

And sorry what do you mean by a change to return some things pack?

 

[Overkill]

Looks nice man

 

[Valentin N]

I don't really store a lot on the computer at the moment so i figured a cheap 250gb ssd would do for now, i wasn't sure how much i was gonna store on it so i didnt want to risk using a 120gb and not have enough space, and i have so much external storage i didn't see the need for a big hard drive. As for the power supply i would have gotten something better as you said but ive had that one laying around for a while so i figured id use it. The motherboards i saw the msi used in a couple of overclocking reviews for haswell and looked at some reviews and thought it looked good so i got it, i didn't know about the asrock otherwise i probably would have gotten that one. I tried to get everything to have a red black kind of theme lol.

And sorry what do you mean by a change to return some things pack?

Are you able to return some on the bought items? so that you could invest on something better.

One thing I forgot to mention is to replace the current the fan that came along with h60 and my recommendation is Noctua NF-S12A FLX 120mm on the

 

[imsoadude]

I doubt i could return any of it, i got the parts more than 30 days ago and im pretty sure all the places i got them from are 15-30 day return policy. but im sure eventually ill be doing another build so next time ill make sure i post first to make sure im getting good parts.

Also whats better about getting the nocual fan over the default h60 one?

 

[ZeroDay]

Looking good imsoadude, congrats on your first build.